Markers, pens, and other like writing instruments are found in virtually every home, office and class rooms, including daycares, preschools, public and private schools, etc., yet they can often be extremely harmful to children (e.g., in the form of a choking hazard or ingestion hazard) and can be used, most often by children, to harm or destroy valuables.
For example, the cap of a pen, marker, or other writing instrument can either fall off or be taken off, thereby becoming an extreme choking hazard for children, and particularly children between the ages of 0 and 5. Ingesting the cap, ink or other portion of the pen, marker or writing instrument can also be extremely harmful. In addition, children, particularly between the ages of 0 and 5, can often destroy valuables, such as walls, paintings, furniture, etc. by writing on them with access to pens, markers, etc. In the United States, alone, there are over 23 million children between the ages of 0 and 5, and approximately 4 million children born each year. Furthermore, there are about 67,000 elementary schools in the United States where child access to pens, markers and other writing instruments is abundant.
In addition, sometimes the cap to a marker or pen can be inadvertently dislodged or removed from the writing instrument, for example, while the writing instrument is in a pocket, purse or bag. When this happens, the ink tip of the writing instrument can be exposed, which can then potentially mark and/or damage nearby items (e.g., items in the same pocket, purse or bag) or the pocket, purse or bag, itself.
There is thus a need in the art for a writing instrument with a cap that can lock onto the body portion or base of the writing instrument in order to restrict access to the cap and/or writing tip (e.g., ink tip) by making it difficult for children of a young age to open and/or minimizing or eliminating the possibility of the cap being inadvertently dislodged or removed, e.g., in a pocket, purse or bag. The younger the child, and the less motor skills the child possess, the more likely it is that the child or individual would not be able to remove or unlock the cap of the proposed writing instrument.
The proposed writing instrument with locking cap would help reduce the chances of young children choking on or ingesting the cap(s) and/or the cap being otherwise inadvertently removed or dislodged since the cap will be locked onto the base or body portion of the writing instrument. In some embodiments, the cap can also be locked onto the bottom end or base of the body portion (e.g., when the writing instrument is in use), further preventing access to the cap, alone. In addition, the locked cap would help prevent or reduce the number of children from writing on, and thereby destroying valuables, such as walls, paintings, pictures, furniture, carpet, countertops, clothing, etc.